March 14, 2010
Final Stats
MADISON, Wis. -
Junior Matej Zlatkovic notched a 6-4, 6-0 win in No. 4 singles Sunday afternoon, but it proved to be the only point for No. 70-ranked Illinois State, as the Redbirds suffered a 6-1 loss at No. 38 Wisconsin at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The Redbirds challenged for the doubles point after Skip Span and Filip Miljevic teamed to win No. 3 doubles, 8-5, over Wisconsin's Michael Dierberger and Ricardo Martin. However, Alexander Pelaez and Michael Hobson were topped, 8-1, in No. 2 doubles and Timon Reichelt and Zlatkovic fell, 8-5, in the No. 1 position.
"We had a real chance to win the doubles point," head coach Cris James said. "We were dominating the No. 1 doubles early, but (Wisconsin) has good players and they have great serves. We just couldn't convert, but we definitely had our chances."
Zlatkovic's singles win was over UW's Billy Bertha, who James was well aware of.
"Matej really took his guy apart and that was against a top-25 national recruit, so that was pretty impressive," James said.
Pelaez competed for the Redbirds at the No. 1 singles spot, and nearly knocked off Wisconsin's Marek Michalicka, who is ranked No. 21 nationally. Pelaez fell, 7-6, 6-3.
"Alex played real well (Sunday)," James said. "He had set point in this first set and he had a great opportunity to get the win. I have felt all along that Alex had the potential to play at No. 1, he just needed some confidence and to get a little tougher. He showed that (Sunday)."
ISU's Miljevic also faced a ranked player at No. 2 singles and suffered a 6-2, 6-4 loss to No. 13 Moritz Baumann. Reichelt was downed, 6-1, 6-1, by Wisconsin's Patrick Pohlmann at No. 3 singles. Xavier Riart-Ferrer was beaten, 6-1, 6-2, by UW's Luke Rassow-Kantor at the No. 5 spot, while Hobson suffered a 6-4, 6-1 loss to Wisconsin's Chris Freeman at No. 6.
"I think (Wisconsin) was the best team we have faced thus far, and I think that we showed that we can play with teams at this level," James said. "We got a couple of wins and had our chances at a few more. We just need to be a little bit better than we were today."
The loss dropped ISU to 7-5 on the season, and Wisconsin improved to 9-4 overall. The Redbirds will continue its run against Big Ten Conference schools, when Illinois State travels to Illinois Friday for a 3 p.m. match.
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